Days before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s scheduled visit to Chhattisgarh, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) has issued a press statement proposing peace talks, urging the government to halt security operations in Maoist-affected regions.
The bodies of all slain Naxal insurgents have been recovered, while one District Reserve Guard (DRG) jawan, Raju Oyami, was martyred.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Saturday reaffirmed the state’s uncompromising stance against Maoist insurgency, declaring, “Our policy is clear- respond to dialogue with dialogue, and bullets with bullets.”
Security forces have dealt a significant blow to the Maoist insurgency in the dense Dandakaranya region along the Chhattisgarh-Odisha border.
The security forces gunned down 12 Maoist insurgents in an intense day-long encounter near the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border on Thursday. The joint operation involved over 1,500 personnel from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), COBRA units and the CRPF, targeting Maoist strongholds in the tri-junction of Dantewada, Bijapur, and Sukma districts.
The deceased, identified as Commander Tijau Ram Bhuarya, was stationed at the 4th Battalion in the Darbha area.
One of the three deceased Maoists has been identified as Lalit, aged 34 years of Gampur village in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.
They were killed in an intelligence-based operation and the rebels were in their hideout in the mountainous terrains when the operation was launched to flush out the Maoists, said Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Sunil Bansal.
The banners also appealed to the locals to observe "Martyrs Week" from July 28 to August 3 to commemorate the death anniversary of rebel leader and founder of CPI(ML), Charu Majumdar.
The body of Korasa Ramesh (33), who was kidnapped by Maoists three days ago, was found near the Kottapalli area on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border on Wednesday.
